Hot Air in Washington, D.C., Might Keep Helium Supply Afloat

Inflated gas prices have put researchers and industry under pressure

US lawmakers have taken a significant step towards averting a global crisis in helium supply, thanks to a bill passed by the House of Representatives on 26 April. If it passes the Senate and becomes law, the bill would delay the imminent closure of the world’s only strategic helium reserve. It would also increase the price of the gas from the reserve, so helium-dependent researchers and industry could still face ballooning costs. However, the prospect of higher prices is encouraging the development of new helium sources in Qatar and Russia, which may ultimately lead to a more stable helium market.

With a boiling point of 4 kelvin — lower than that of any other element — liquid helium has many uses, including cooling the super­conducting magnets in medical imaging scanners. The semiconductor industry also relies on the inert gas to shield delicate crystals from contaminants during manufacturing.

Demand is on the rise. More than 100 million cubic meters of helium is extracted from natural gas worldwide every year, yet meeting global needs requires a further 60 million cubic meters a year from the US Federal Helium Reserve, a vast geological reservoir near Amarillo, Texas, that stores helium from past gas extraction (see ‘Floating skyward’).

In the mid-1990s, the reserve boasted 1 billion cubic meters of the gas — and a debt of US$1.3 billion accrued after a large buy-up of helium in the 1960s. Over time, the simple formula used to calculate the price of helium sold from the reserve has failed to keep pace with commercial prices. In 1996, appalled that the government was undercutting a booming commercial gas market, lawmakers passed the Helium Privatization Act. Its goal was to sell the helium reserve to pay off the debt. Once the debt was gone, no more helium would be sold. “They would literally turn off the tap,” says Richard Clarke, a process and resources consultant based in Oxford, UK. The shutdown was expected by October this year. And because the reserve’s cut-rate prices had dissuaded companies from developing sources elsewhere, a supply shortage was possible. “The Privatization Act has come back to bite them,” says Clarke.

Alarmed, researchers and high-tech industries lobbied Congress to keep the helium flowing. Congress responded: the Responsible Helium Administration and Stewardship Act passed by the House maps out a more orderly shutdown. A similar bill has been introduced to the Senate; if it passes this summer, as is expected, and the law takes effect, the stockpile would be sold to the highest bidders in semi-annual auctions, until just 85 million cubic meters are left. Experts say that point might be reached in 2020, and prices could rise by 50% in that time.

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